LOS ANGELES - Life is tough, even for James Bond. Just ask actor Daniel
Craig, who for the first time dons the British spy's tuxedo for autumn film,
"Casino Royale."
British actor Daniel
Craig poses as secret agent James Bond in the adventure film 'Casino
Royale' in this undated publicity photo. Life is tough, even for James
Bond. Just ask Craig, who for the first time dons the British spy's tuxedo
for the autumn film. [Reuters] |
Ask him what is the coolest thing about making the 21st movie in the fabled
film series that spans more than 40 years and five Bonds, and he responds:
"Finishing probably."
For the film, which opens November 17, he was beaten up, blown up and hung on
wires on the back of a fuel tanker by director Martin Campbell's ("Die Another
Day") special effects wizards.
Craig trained five days-a-week to get into shape, but he couldn't bulk-up too
much or he wouldn't fit 007's tux. "You just look like a doorman," he said in a
recent interview.
But perhaps the most emasculating thing about playing one of the movies' most
macho of men is this: in "Casino Royale," James Bond is awkward - a rookie agent
- at first. What's more, he gets dumped by a "Bond girl."
Yet Craig swears 007 regains his cool by the end.
"Casino Royale," is based on author Ian Fleming's first novel, penned in
1953, about the British spy with a licence to kill, and while the movie's makers
stuck close to the original storyline, they re-set the film in modern times.
"We have an opening sequence that is filmed in black and white, which is not
to say this is old. It is just to say, 'go with us on this one. This is from the
beginning,'" Craig said.
On his first mission for Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond must stop a
Frenchman, Le Chiffre, from funding the world's terrorists. (In the novel, Le
Chiffre is a Soviet agent).
BILLION DOLLAR BOND
Bond confronts Le Chiffre at the high stakes gambling tables at Casino
Royale. British Treasury agent, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), delivers the cash to
fund Bond's game and, of course, action, adventure and a little bit of loving
ensue.
Another take on Fleming's yarn, 1967's "Casino Royale," was a comedic spoof
of the Bond genre, so Craig's film becomes the first "Casino Royale" of the type
the film icon's fans have come to love.
Since the first movie, 1962's "Dr. No," the series has sold $3.6 billion in
tickets at U.S. and Canadian theatres, adjusted for inflation. Worldwide, the
last four Bond films alone have grossed nearly $1.5 billion unadjusted,
according to boxofficemojo.com
That's a tremendous box office record to maintain, and if an actor screws up
the job, he is unceremoniously ousted. Just ask George Lazenby and Timothy
Dalton - two previous Bonds.
"It's huge," said Craig about taking the role. "Of course there's concern,
I'm only human. I want to get it right."
Craig, 38, may be unknown to U.S. fans, but he is no stranger to acting or to
the limelight. The British actor trained at England's National Youth Theatre and
graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
He has appeared in movies and on television for nearly 15 years, most
recently in Steven Spielberg's "Munich."
Bond producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli liked him enough to sign
him for an untitled, 22nd Bond flick set for release in 2008.
Craig said he talked to Pierce Brosnan, who played the super spy in the four
most recent Bond movies, "quite a few times."
"Pierce said 'go for it,'" Craig said. "So I did."
